THE CEMENT GARDEN

Andrew Birkin's adaptation of Ian McEwan's acclaimed and controversial 1978 short story took a decade of struggle to bring to the big screen. The fruits of his labor resulted in a Best Director award for Birkin at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival. Birkin's stylized direction combined with Stephen Blackman's steely-gray cinematography add up to a lucid exploration of the psychological ambiguities behind the apparent orderliness of English society. THE CEMENT GARDEN follows the relationship between 16-year-old Julie and her 15-year-old brother Jack in a mesmerizing drama of sibling incest and teenage alienation. Recently orphaned and determined to fend for themselves, they struggle with their burgeoning sexuality, the responsibility of caring for their younger sister and brother, and the family secret they all share. What festers over a long, hot summer is essentially a biazarre tale of teenage love among the ruins. McEwan himself praised the film as “sensitive to its subject matter, generous it its instincts, emotionally wise and very moving.”-Kit Kalfs.